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Time Period
1623 to 1763
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The colony prospered. Tobacco—grown by indentured servants and enslaved Africans—sustained the economy. The first popularly elected legislative body in the New World was established. Following the failed Indian uprising in 1622 and on orders from London, the native peoples were “removed” and reduced in number to 3,000 by a “War of Extermination.” During the next hundred years, the remainder of Virginia’s population expanded a hundred fold. Social inequalities, however, and frontier conflicts with the French and with Indians made this distant dominion increasingly difficult to govern from London.
Time Period
1877 to 1924
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After the Civil War, Virginia remained largely rural, but Virginians embraced economic development and the new technologies that were revolutionizing everyday life. At the same time, however, they resisted political and social change––especially racial and gender equality. Living standards improved and income rose, but the political system became less democratic and society was rigidly segregated by race. “The New South” brought economic renewal but little reform. The Virginia legislature rejected a woman’s right to vote in 1919, and it passed a regressive Racial Integrity Act in 1924.
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Beginnings of Black Education
Few black Virginians received a formal education until public schools were widely established during Reconstruction. Public
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Byrd Family
A man driven by enormous ambition, William Byrd II of Westover was an exceptional figure in colonial America. Educated in
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Conclusion
Throughout the twentieth century and during the past decade, apologists for John Brown have turned out imagery and
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Copies and Adaptations of de Bry
For more than two centuries, the 1590 engravings of Virginia Indians by de Bry and van Veen were copied for other
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Elections from 1876 to 1920
This section contains information and memorabilia on the elections from 1876 to 1920. Scroll down the page to learn more
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Fanciful Figures
View illustrations of Virginia Indians as they were imagined by artists.
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Fitzhugh Family
The colonial history of Stafford and King George counties—and thus of northern Virginia—is inseparable from that of the large
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Gordon Family
The Gordon portraits depict the family of an Ulster merchant and planter of Scottish origin who emigrated to Lancaster County
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Hampton Institute and Booker T. Washington
Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute was founded in 1868 by General Samuel Armstrong. He was interested in moral
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Interpreting Historical Images
A historical image can be interpreted in a number of ways. Each approach brings a different set of considerations, or frame
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Invented Scenes for Narratives
When artists were hired to illustrate written accounts of events in Virginia, they did not aim to make realistic
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Memory
Which John Brown have Americans remembered? The crusader for abolition or the bloodthirsty terrorist? Brown was not forgotten
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Reconciliation
After Appomattox, Ulysses S. Grant was the savior of the United States, while Robert E. Lee was the greatest hero of the Lost
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Robert Knox Sneden Chronology
1832 June 3 born in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, British provinces of America 1851 family moves to New York 1858 earliest
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The House
Virginia House was completed in 1928, and in 1929 it was presented to VHS.
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The Weddells
Learn more about Alexander Weddell and Virginia Chase Steedman Weddell.
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The World of Jim Crow
After the Civil War, Black Americans were no longer enslaved but they had not achieved equal status with whites in American
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W. E. B. Du Bois and the NAACP
W. E. B. Du Bois was the first black recipient of a Ph.D. from Harvard University. In The Souls of Black Folks, published in